Basic gear from mid-twentieth-century Italy: Other manufacturers

[David Wilson]

Our second mask of the day is the Salvas Adesiva, which was around from 1970 to 1971. The product name "Adesiva" is Italian for "Adhesive", doubtless chosen to support the claim that the mask would be a good watertight fit. Here is the mask, right centre, without a caption, in a Salvas advertisement from a 1970 issue of Mondo Sommerso:

And here it is again in two 1971 Salvas ads from the same source. No caption in the first ad, but finally a product description in the second.

Italian: "SALVAS la maschera Adesiva della Salvas-Shark, studiata per gli apneisti: ridottissimo volume interno, compensazione facilitata, massima aderenza al viso. In modelle di colore nero, blu o aragosta con ghiera in modelle di colore giallo. Il prezzo è di Lire 3.500".
Rough translation: "SALVAS. Salvas-Shark Adesiva mask, designed for freedivers: very low internal volume, easy compensation, maximum adherence to the face. Black, blue or lobster coloured models with a fixing band in the case of yellow models. The price is 3,500 Lire".

 

[David Wilson]

Third Salvas mask of the day is the "Tiger", which appeared top right in the furst 1970 ad below and worn by a model on the second from that year:

No caption, but this mask is rectangular in shape with rounded corners and may be a budget model without a compensator.

 

[David Wilson]

Finally for today, here is the Salvas Nervi mask. We have no date and just a handful of auction pictures.

So a triangular shaped mask with rounded corners and finger wells to pinch the nostrils when clearing the ears.

That's plenty for today and at the weekend I am minded to move on to review Salvas snorkels at the weekend. Until then, keep safe and stay well.

 

[Popgun Pete]

Third Salvas mask of the day is the "Tiger", which appeared top right in the furst 1970 ad below and worn by a model on the second from that year:

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No caption, but this mask is rectangular in shape with rounded corners and may be a budget model without a compensator.

Date ties in with the Sea Hornet timber speargun the guy is holding as first versions had bronze coloured plastic parts, later they were black.

 

[David Wilson]

Thanks, Pete, for that information and I'm grateful to Sam, Jal and Ginti for their likes.

Right, we're moving on to Salvas snorkels today. I'll start with the one old enough to appear in the Rex-Hevea catalogue of 1958:

So this "Capri" breathing tube came with a hinged Gamma float valve at the top of the type patented by Luigi Ferraro, who participated in wartime "Gamma" combat swimmer operations:

At the lower end, the mouthpiece of the Capri came with a rubber U-shaped elbow attached to it. This model remained in production until 1966, when it appeared thus in a German-language Salvas catalogue under the name "Article No. 306":

The German caption translates roughly to "Snorkel. Article No. 306. Constructed with a plastic barrel and a valve. Coloured blue and black."

 

[David Wilson]

That German-language Salvas catalogue of 1966 contained three snorkels, designated as Articles No. 305, 306 and 307. No. 305 resembled No. 306 without its top valve:

However, the German caption reveals that the No. 305 snorkel had a rubber barrel, while the No. 306 came with a plastic barrel. So the No. 305 breathing tube was an all-rubber snorkel.

The No. 307 Salvas snorkel was an altogether different affair. Here it is in a 1961 issue of Mondo Sommerso diving magazine:

Italian: "Respiratore sagomato con dispositivi brevettati di chiusura e di scarico perfettissimi."
Rough translation: "Shaped breathing tube with very perfect patented closure and drain devices."

Here it is again in that German-language catalogue of 1966:

The German caption draws attention to the fact that the snorkel has a special shape that has been awarded a patent. Sadly, I have been unable to locate the patent in question.

And there I shall finish for today, minded to return to the "Art. 307" some time midweek because I've seen the unusual lower end somewhere else and I'm determined to try and locate that other example of the design. I shall also be looking at the Salvas "Ustica" flex-hose snorkel. In the meantime, stay safe, keep well.

 

[jale]

indeed this 307 looks unique

 

[David Wilson]

You're right, Jale, and I think I may have found the source I was looking for:

The image is from my copy of Wolfgang Freihen's 1967 book "Tauchsportler - richtig ausgerüstet!", the German title roughly translating to "Sports divers - with the proper equipment". The Salvas snorkel is the one on the far right and its caption below translates to "Snorkel with connecting tube from Salvas". The concept underlying the snorkel seems to be that inhaled and exhaled air will pass by the shortest route through the barrel and the upper tube leading to the mouthpiece. Trapped water was meant to settle in the lower tube, eventually exiting through the drain valve at the bottom of the lower tube. Or at least that may be the theory leading to Salvas being awarded a patent for the idea.

More about Salvas snorkels in a few days' time.

 

[Angelo Farina]

Finally for today, here is the Salvas Nervi mask.

Nervi is the name of a small town close to Genoa (today they actually melted together).

But this was the location of the first Italian school for diving instructors, established in 1959 (initially Scuola Nazionale di Immersione, and later Centro Didattico Federale) and until the end of the seventies, for becoming a diving instructor you had to go to Nervi, following the one-week course under the direction of Duilio Marcante.
I had this honour in 1978, and again in 1982 for the two-stars instructor course.
Here the Gropallo swimming pool in Nervi, were most of the training activity was conducted (mostly using the ARO CC rebreather). But in the background you see the small gulf were we were trained to row on a small wood boat, and we performed a number of excercises in the sea, mostly free diving.

So the name of this Nervi mask was very evocative for diving instructors. Probably much less for normal divers, who were not aware of what "Nervi" did mean.

 

[Angelo Farina]

And here it is again in two 1971 Salvas ads from the same source. No caption in the first ad, but finally a product description in the second.

These images from the 1971 catalogue are very important. Apart the Salvas masks, they show the typical twin tank which was the standard equipment here in the seventies: two steel cylinders with a capacity of 10 liters each, and a pressure ranging between 150 to 200 bars. Equipped with a valve system with a reserve rod and two posts for two independent regs (10 years before Americans started using an octopus attached to a single first stage).

Later on, the "top" regulator of the time was shown: a Scubapro Mark 5 (that is a MK5 first stage and a 109 2nd stage).
These are still the regs I am using today! I did never thrust those plastic things which appeared in the eighties...